There Were Roses
by Madisonne
Summary: Something's wrong with Heero, but what is it? And will someone catch on before it's too late?
1. Default Chapter

There Were Roses 

(... And the Tears of the People Ran Together In the Rain)

By: Madisonne

Part: 1/?

Warnings: Yaoi, angst, dark things in general

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does NOT belong to me... (Damn, damn, damn...) No infringement on the rights of the owners of said anime intended. Don't sue me, suing isn't nice. As for the fic, don't steal it! Criticism accepted (feed me feed-back at Fire_Elf_Rei@hotmail.com!!!), flames laughed at. 

Notes: * * * * * : Scene Change

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ : Memory/Flash-back

--- : Written

Confused yet? Good! ;-)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Heero sighed shakily, as he felt the gentle rise and fall of his lover's chest behind him, realizing that, finally, the young man was asleep. 

Moving slowly and quietly, he unwound the arm around his waist and tip-toed into the bathroom. He closed the door behind him, and turned on the lights. Slowly, he looked down at his wrists. 

Despite his caution, he gasped at the sight of blood running down his arms from the painful red slash marks on his wrists. 

Shuddering, he pulled open the drawer under the sink, pulling out some gauze and a cotton wrap. He gently eased the water on and washed away the blood on his wrists, grimacing slightly at the feel of the cool water on his open wounds. He reached behind him for a towel, and dried of his arms, watching with a morbid fascination as the light blue towel turned dark red. Cursing softly, he placed gauze on his right wrist, then wrapped it in a length of cotton wrap. Methodically, he repeated that treatment for the other arm. 

After his wounds were treated, he leaned his head against the mirror in front of him and closed his eyes. After a minute, he pulled back and shook his head slowly. He took a quick look in the mirror. Hair tousled, as usual; eyes, bleary with lack of sleep, deep circles underneath; face, nothing wrong there; neck, scratch marks; shoulders... Wait a second!!! Neck?!! SCRATCH MARKS?!! Heero winced as he looked at the three bloody marks on his neck. When did THAT happen?!! Shit, I didn't even feel it! He sighed, and used the already blood-soaked towel to clean the wounds gently. Hissing in pain, he pressed gauze to the injuries and used surgical tape to make sure the gauze would stay in place. 

He put back the medical supplies and hesitantly walked back to bed.

* * * * * 

Quatre sipped his tea slowly. He was enjoying the peace of the morning before the other pilots got up, and was reading the newspaper.

Hm, nothing interesting... Looks like we're in for some cold weather for a change. A storm, maybe. Quatre shivered with childish excitement. If I'm lucky, it'll snow lots and Duo and I can go sledding, like we did last year. He smiled at the memory.

Quatre's peace was broken by the sound of someone thundering down the stairs. That somebody skipped into the kitchen, and poured himself a cup of coffee, stirring in spoonful after spoonful of sugar.

"Good morning, Duo." Quatre greeted the pilot of DeathScythe.

"Morning!" Duo smiled.

"Sleep well?"

"Mm-hmmm!" Duo drained his coffee cup and started towards the door.

"Duo? It's supposed to get cold today, don't stay out too long!" Quatre warned.

"Hm? 'Kay!" Duo yelled over his shoulder as he ran out of the door.

Quatre shook his head and went back to reading the newspaper. Again, the silence was broken by somebody coming down the stairs, but this time, the person walked slowly and almost methodically. 

"Hey Heero!" Quatre called to his friend, not looking up.

Heero walked into the kitchen and sat down across from Quatre, grabbing an apple and biting into it. "Hn."

A few minutes passed.

"Talkative, as always." Quatre jibbed.

Heero walked passed him and opened the refrigerator. 

Slightly startled that he hadn't gotten even a deadly stare and a "I will destroy you", Quatre looked behind him. He was puzzled when he saw Heero wearing a black turtle-neck shirt and his usual spandex shorts. That's odd... Heero HATES long-sleeved turtle-necked shirts...

"Ne, Heero, is everything okay?"

Heero pulled out a jug of milk and poured himself a glass. "Why wouldn't it be?" He replied in a monotone.

Quatre could have sworn that a pained expression crossed the young man's face. "Are you sure?"

Heero blinked and sat back down at the table with his glass of milk. "Hai."

Quatre frowned and decided to let the issue rest... For now. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Heero rub his neck tenderly, pain flitting across his face instantaneously. He rose, and before Heero could stop him, he had the 'Perfect Soldier's' shirt off. He gasped as he saw the three bandages, one on each arm, and one on his neck. The glaring young man's chest was spotted with bruises, some fresh, and some near to disappearance. 

Heero tried to get away, but Quatre caught his upper arm, stopping him. 

"I suppose you're going to tell me that you fell AGAIN?" Quatre asked. Damn, this is just... Creepy. All these times... Quatre shuddered as he remembered the times Heero had 'lost his balance' before.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Quatre blanched as Heero staggered down the stairs, clutching his side. "Heero! What... What happened?!!"

"Got... Got hurt."

"I can see that!" Quatre exclaimed as he brought out some of the medical supplies the pilots had on hand. "How did it happen?"

"An accident, a clumsy one really. I... I got out of the shower, the floor was slippery, I fell back onto the edge of the sink and cut my stomach."

Quatre grimaced as he bandaged the softly hissing Heero's side. "That's a nasty cut, be sure you keep it clean!"

Heero nodded and went outside to work on Wing.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 

Heero stiffened, his back still to Quatre.

"I said, turn around, let me see your face!" Quatre insisted.

Slowly, the Wing pilot turned around, revealing a painful looking bruise of the side of his face.

"How did this happen?!!"

"I... I fell again... Down the stairs..."

~* ~ * ~ * ~

Quatre frowned, noticing the way Heero winced as Wufei patted his shoulder. Come to think of it, he's been holding that shoulder rather stiffly... "Ne, Heero, how's your shoulder? It seems to be bothering you." Quatre walked over to put his hand on Heero's shoulder.

Heero flinched away. "It's fine."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Quatre's mind reeled as he recalled incident after incident. "Heero, I'm not buying your stories about falling and all. I think someone's doing this to you."

Heero jerked in surprise. "I... It's... H-he... Never mind!" Heero grabbed his shirt and ran up the stairs, the sound of his door slamming and locking behind him ringing in Quatre's ears.

On his way out of the kitchen, Heero had passed Wufei, who had been watching the interchange from the hall. Hissing softly, he muttered, "I am going to KILL him... He will suffer for the pain he has brought Heero..."

* * * * * 

Heero slumped against the door to his room, leaning his weight against it. That was close. Too close. They can't... The can't find out... What... What happened. What happens... I... I am... Scared...

* * * * * 

Quatre shook with barely controlled anger. He slammed his fist into the table in front of him. "I WILL KILL HIM!!! HOW DARE HE?!!" He screamed.

Quatre whirled around as someone behind him coughed politely. He came face to face with a just as angered Wufei. 

"Let's make this a joint murder, shall we?" Wufei growled.

* * * * * 

Heero tried not to cry, but found his attempts were in vain. Tears coursed down his cheeks as he rocked back and forth.

* * * * * 

Duo was humming quietly to himself as he worked on DeathScythe. He smiled at himself, knowing he must look ridiculous, on his back under his Gundam, humming a tuneless melody. His relative peace and quiet was broken by the appearance of four black boots. 

Duo felt himself being pulled out from under his Gundam by his booted foot. He was upside down, being hauled outside. He was dropped, falling to the ground in a graceless heap of arms and legs. 

Duo quickly got to his feet, fearing assassins. He sighed in relief as he realized that it was only Wufei and Quatre. Then, processing their identical glares, he decided that he might prefer assassins to these two. 

"Nani?!! What's wrong?"

"WHAT'S WRONG?!!" Quatre screamed at the cowering pilot of DeathScythe.

"I'LL DAMN WELL TELL YOU WHAT'S WRONG!" Wufei screamed, just as loudly. "Heero's up in his room, crying. And do you know WHY he's crying?!!" The enraged pilot's voice suddenly got deadly soft. "He's crying because somebody hurt him. Somebody hurt him badly. Someone he trusts, or used to. Someone he cares about. Someone whom he loves."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Duo blinked.

"Damn you and your fucking 'I don't know's to HELL!!!" Quatre cursed.

Quatre cussing. One of the millions of things I never thought I'd see... Duo smirked. Well, you hear something new every day... "Excuse me?!!" He asked.

"We're talking about someone who tortures another pilot." Wufei growled.

"Somebody who claims they love someone yet abuses them." Quatre added.

"Someone who betrays another man's trust."

"Someone who hurts another man... Constantly."

"Someone who hurts another pilot."

"Someone who hurts a friend."

"Someone who hurts his lover."

"Someone who hurts the 'Perfect Soldier'."

"Someone who hurts Heero." Wufei accused.

Duo gasped. "You think I hurt Heero?!!"

"Well, it all fits together!" Quatre glared at the braided pilot.

"I... I couldn't!"

"Don't lie to us, Duo." Wufei warned.

"N-no... I didn't!"

Quatre bit back a sob and hit the hypocritical pilot across the face, knocking the pilot of DeathScythe to the ground. "Be glad I don't kill you right here and now. We're giving you one night. ONE night to repent and to apologize."

And the two pilots left Duo on the ground.

* * * * * 

Heero put his head in his hands as his body shook violently. What did I do wrong?!! He wasn't like this before! Heero smiled at the memory of Duo when they had first discovered their love for each other. He was kind... Gentle. We were equals... But then... Duo's love started to have a new, menacing quality. Duo had started to couple his kisses with blows, and cuts... And it started to scare me...

Heero remembered one time, when Duo had scared him so much, he asked Duo to kill him. Duo had beaten him harder than ever that night. Telling Heero that he didn't deserve the mercy of death. Ever since then, Heero had held his frightened feelings inside, trying not to anger Duo again.

Heero flinched as he heard someone knocking on his door.

"Wh-who is it?" He asked hesitantly.

"Heero, it's me. Let me in."

Heero contemplated not letting Duo in, but then he remembered the last time he had tried to keep his fellow pilot out.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

"Heero. Let me in."

"N-no!"

"Heero, I'm going to count to three. If this door is not open by then..."

Heero shrank against the opposite wall, wishing to become one with the solid wood. He choked back a shriek as the door cracked, then burst open, revealing a VERY angry Duo. 

"How dare you?" Duo coldly asked.

~* ~ *~ * ~

Heero sighed shakily and slowly opened the door. 

Duo stepped in and quietly locked the door behind him.

"What did you tell them?!!" He quietly hissed.

"N-nothing!"

"That's not what I would have guessed, given their little chat with me this afternoon." Duo glared, roughly shaking Heero by his shoulders.

"R-really, I d-didn't!"

* * * * * 

Quatre and Wufei leaned against the wall opposite Heero's bedroom, watching Duo walk into the room. 

"If ANYthing happens, we storm the place, agreed?" Quatre asked.

"Hai." Wufei returned, glaring at the door.

* * * * * 

"Well, that's too bad for you," Duo hit Heero on the side of the face. "Because I believe other wise!"

Heero tried to sit up, after the blow from the angered pilot knocked him to the floor, but he was stopped by Duo, who sat on his stomach, pinning him to the floor.

"What did you tell them?!!" Duo growled, glaring into Heero's blue eyes which were wide with fright.

"N-nothing! R-really!" Heero repeated himself.

"Really?" Duo asked, his voice cold. "And why should I believe you?" He leaned down, kissing Heero with bruising force, all the while digging his fingers into the other pilot's hand.

Heero tried to turn his face away, but was punished with a blow to the side of his head.

"Damn you to hell!" Duo hissed.

Heero gasped for air. "I'll s-see you there!"

Duo growled and dug his fingernails into Heero's hand even harder, tearing at the well-muscled flesh. "You bastard." He stood up and kicked Heero in the ribs, eliciting no response. Hissing in frustration, he kicked him again, harder.

Heero yelped in pain.

Duo cursed violently, and tried to distract the pilot from the pain by kissing him passionately.

Heero, however, continued to yelp in pain, and then his yelps turned to shrieking as Duo hit him over and over.

* * * * * 

Quatre jumped as he heard someone shriek in pain. He quickly pulled his friend to his feet, and he tried to open the door, but cursed as he saw it was locked.

"DUO, LET US IN!!!"

* * * * * 

Duo froze for an instant at the angry voice at the other side of the door. Then, he smirked down at Heero. "They can't get in. Aw, poor little Heero's saviour can't come to his rescue."

Suddenly, the door burst in, and Quatre stumbled into the room, followed by Wufei.

"W-what?!!" Duo asked, trying to appear innocent.

Quatre just glared at him and threw him off of Heero, picked the boy up effortlessly, and walked out of the room. 

Wufei stared at Duo icily. "Go to hell, you slime." He kicked the cowering pilot once, and followed Quatre out of the room.

* * * * * 

Duo awoke slowly the next morning, taking awhile to register his surroundings. He recalled the last night's events and groaned. 

Grimacing at the lances of pain shooting across his chest, Duo got out of bed and absent-mindedly pulled on some clothes. He was aware, in a small part of his brain, that the shirt was Heero's, but he really didn't care enough to change again.

He walked out of the door and down the stairs, surprised at the empty kitchen. Duo noticed a piece of paper, folded in half, on the kitchen table with his name written on it.

--- Duo, 

I have Heero. Don't come after us. I can't assure that I won't kill you if I see you again. 

Quatre ---

"WHAT THE FUCK?!!" Duo raged.

"Would you pipe down?!! SOME of us are trying to sleep!" An angry voice admonished him from the couch in the living room.

"Wufei?" Duo asked. "When did they leave?"

"Last night. Either go back to bed or to hell, either one, just leave me alone." Wufei growled, flinging an arm over his eyes.

* * * * * 

Quatre sighed and held Heero's sleeping form in his arms as the shuttle took off for his home. Soon, we'll be back at my house, and I can help you put your self back together.

As if conscious of Quatre's thoughts, Heero sighed softly, and completely relaxed against Quatre's chest.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Ha ha ha! I looooove the evilness of leaving you all HANGING here... In the next part, I'll explain exactly WHAT Duo thought he was doing during this fic. But, until then, you can send complaints about the time I'm taking to write the next part to: Fire_Elf_Rei@hotmail.com 

Ja ne!


	2. There Were Roses (II)

There Were Roses:

And the Tears of the People Rain Together in the Rain

(Part Two)

By: Madisonne

Part: 2/?

Warnings: Angst, yaoi, reference to citrus-y activities...

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does NOT belong to me... (Damn, damn, damn...) No infringement on the rights of the owners of said anime intended. Don't sue me, suing isn't nice. As for the fic, don't steal it! Criticism accepted, flames laughed at.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

The shuttle-attendant shook the Winner heir's shoulders. "Sir, sir, the shuttle has landed. Sir!"

Slowly, the young man opened his eyes.

"We have arrived, sir." The shuttle-attendant's eyes flickered to the bandaged young man who was curled up in the Winner heir's arms. "You and your friend were sound asleep..."

"Sorry." The angelic young man smiled apologetically. "Heero? Heero?"

The bandaged young man woke suddenly, eyes wide with fright. "What? What?!!"

"It's okay, Heero, it's just me. We've landed near my father's estate. DO you think you can walk?"

Heero blinked. "H-hai."

Rubbing his eyes, Quatre stood up and grabbed his bag of hastily packed clothes, both his and Heero's.

* * * * *

Quatre noticed Heero's eyes drooping as the pilot struggled to stay awake. Finally, Heero fell asleep, leaning on the arm of the chair, his brown hair falling across his face.

Quatre excused himself and his companion from the table and walked over to Heero's chair, gathering the slumbering pilot in his arms.

Heero showed no signs of awakening, other than burying his face into Quatre's shoulder.

Smiling slightly, Quatre carried the sleeping fighter to the room the servants had quickly prepared for his guest. Moving silently, Quatre slid the unconscious pilot into the bed, tucking the sheets gently around his friend. He tiptoed out of the room and into his own across the hall. 

The blonde pilot changed into cotton shorts and a long sleeved tee shirt. Yawning, he got into bed and fell fast asleep.

* * * * *

Quatre awoke with a gasp, not quite sure what had thrown him out of sleep. Then, through the silence of the night, a piercing scream echoed through the house. Panicking, Quatre ran to Heero's room, picking up a gun on his way out.

Heero was tossing around in his bed, pain flickering across his face and closed eyes, which issued a stream of tears.

"Heero, Heero, wake up! Heero!" Quatre shook the thrashing pilot's shoulders.

Heero convulsed in pain and slammed his arm across Quatre's cheek, sending the small pilot tumbling off the bed and slamming him into the dresser.

Heero awoke suddenly, panting furiously. He looked around the room in terror, finding only Quatre, lying on the floor beside his bed. "Quatre?" He asked, his voice rough from crying.

Quatre looked up, "Heero?" He scrambled to his feet and sat on he the edge of his friend's bed.

Hesitantly, Heero reached up and touched his fellow pilot's red cheek with his fingertips. "W-what happened?"

"I-it... Was an accident... Are you okay?" Quatre reached up and pulled Heero's hand away from his face and held it in both of his.

Heero nodded slowly.

"Are you sure? Do you want to talk about it?"

Heero shook his head violently. "No!"

Quatre wiped the tears off of Heero's face with the sleeve of his shirt. "It's okay. You don't have to. Just, if you ever need someone to be there for you, if you need someone to talk to, I'll be there for you, I promise." He stood up and started to walk out the door, only to be stopped by a cold hand on his wrist. "Nani?" He asked, turning back around.

Heero looked up at him, a pleading expression in his eyes. "D-don't leave me al-alone... Onegai? St-stay here? Onegai?"

Quatre gave in immediately, and sat back down on the bed.

Heero sighed softly and closed his eyes again. Moments later, he was asleep.

* * * * * 

Quatre clicked on his laptop and tapped in his password. The laptop chimed and a mechanical voice said, "Authorization complete".

The Arab clicked once and started to type.

Two hours later saw Quatre slumping in his chair, one hand propping his chin up, the other scrolling down, his eyes scanning across the page rapidly. All of the sudden, Quatre gasped and clicked once with his mouse. His eyes scanned the page quickly, growing wider as he read the contents.

"Mission number 58432 was considered highly dangerous to the psyche of the agent. But, 02 pulled through and completed the mission with a higher rate of success than could ever be expected from such a novice to the elements of torture."

Quatre gasped and scrolled down more.

"The mission lasted two months, occurring before the pre-arranged meeting of Gundam pilots 01 and 02. Originally, the mission was meant for pilot 01, but was given to 02 on the premise that 01 would have no part in a bondage and torture situation."

The blonde pilot had to laugh softly at the childish way that Duo had written his report, praising himself entirely.

"Unfortunately, some of the doctors' assumptions were not correct. Unexpectedly, the young pilot turned quickly to the hobby of sadism, or the sometimes sexual enjoyment of seeing others in pain."

Quatre inhaled sharply. "So Duo, this is where it all began..." He scanned the next few pages, which were based mainly on the braided pilots monomania of torture. He rubbed his aching eyes and shut down the computer. 

Biting the edge of his lip, Quatre considered his next move. With a nod of his head, he decided on a course of action and scurried down the hall. He stopped at a non-descript door and knocked hesitantly on the wood. 

His knock was answered by one of his many older sisters, a taller brown haired, gray-eyed girl who was rather thin, and had almost an ethereal quality to her. "Quatre! What do you need?" The girl asked as she stepped aside to allow him into the small room filled with bookshelves.

Quatre smiled at her and walked into the room, seating himself, and waiting very poignantly for her to shut the door before he began to speak. "Lilliana, I've got a problem for you..."

The brunette sat cross-legged in an armchair. "Fire away, whatcha got for me?"

Quatre bit his lip. "What would you do, or... How would you help a victim of abuse?"

Lilliana nodded, "What kind of abuse? Abuse in a relationship? A family?"

Quatre hesitated, undecided as to whether he should tell the truth, "Uh, a relationship."

She nodded again. "What kind of a relationship?"

"Uh... A boyfriend/girlfriend type of relationship." He quickly lied.

She paled, "You aren't coming here to help a situation you're in, are you?"

Quatre shook his head, "No, no of course not! It's... A friend."

"Well good. I'd have to beat the gal who hurtcha. This 'friend' might not happen to be the one you brought in last night, was it?"

Quatre sighed and nodded.

She smiled slightly. "I thought so. Well, what kind of abuse and how bad do you think it is?" She picked up a pad of paper and started jotting down notes as Quatre talked.

"Well... Both physical and sexual, I think... I know about the physical. I've seen it all too many times. At first I thought he was telling me the truth, but then, as the days went on, one can only faint and hit one's head on the sink so many times, right? So I started to put two and two together, and sickeningly enough, I was right." Quatre stood up and looked out the window.

"How long would you say this has been going on?"

"About... Two, three months?"

His sister nodded. "You did the right thing in coming to me. I know it's hard, sometimes, to trust someone outside of the situation."

Quatre turned back around, "Do you really think I did the right thing?"

"Of course. Now, to make a full analysis, I must see the patient, you understand."

Quatre cut her off, "No! I mean, that might not be the best solution."

"I'm afraid it's the only way for me to make an accurate diagnosis." Lilliana smiled apologetically. 

Quatre nodded. "I understand... He might not want to, though... I haven't talked to him about since last night, and he was reluctant to talk about it, even as tired as he was."

"You must understand that I cannot guarantee that anything I do or say can help him. All I can tell you is that you have my full assurance that I will do everything in my power to see that your friend is on the track of healing."

Quatre smiled sadly at her. "Thanks. I'll go see if I can find him."

Lilliana smiled back. "Shoo."

Quatre followed her half-serious reply and walked down the hall in search of his friend. A quick scan of the room the servants had prepared for his guest showed that his guest was not currently enjoying the relative safety of this room. 

Ten minutes later, as he was running out of places to send servants to look for the pilot, Quatre began to get worried. In last minute desperation, he dashed outside. At first, he did not see the silent young man, then a slower scan proved Heero to be sitting on a bench underneath a screen of roses growing strong over the iron bars. 

Quatre scampered over to the silent pilot and stood in front of him. The only indication that Heero gave of his knowing that Quatre was there was a slight movement of the eyes towards him.

"Hey, how are you doing?"

No response.

"Uh, I've got someone inside that I'd like you to talk to. You can talk to her as much or as little as you want to, just as long as you go see her." 

Heero was about to refuse when he reconsidered his position. His friend had saved him, with little thought for his own well being, from a fate he deserved more than any other that whatever force was up there could have devised. But, on the other hand, if he refused to go, how would that reflect... He shook his head to clear his mind and stood up, gesturing for the blond pilot to lead the way, which he did. After a few seconds, the other pilot followed him. 

Quatre led Heero to the door of his sister's study. He rapped on the wood two times before entering. "Lilliana, this is Heero, my friend." He then quickly exited the room, shutting the door behind him.

Heero jumped as he heard the door slam behind him, leaving him alone with Lilliana.

Lilliana smiled at him, "Please take a seat." As she gracefully occupied one of her own. "So... Let's start at the beginning."

Silence.

"Okay... The beginning's always a little boring anyways... Uh, let's see... Why didn't you leave after your partner started to hurt you?"

Heero snapped his head up, wondering just how much Quatre had told her. Lilliana, on the other hand, showed no reaction, and watched him, expecting an answer.

"He didn't."

Lilliana looked confused. "What?"

"He didn't hurt me."

Lilliana raised one eyebrow. "But, then..."

"I did it to myself."

Quatre's sister looked a trifle bit sick. "You hurt... Yourself."

Heero started to correct her, then decided that would suffice for an answer, and instead nodded.

Lilliana looked confused. "But, that's not what..."

Heero stood up suddenly. "I don't give a damn what he said." With that, the angry pilot stormed out of the room, leaving Lilliana looking very, very lost.

"Uh... Same time tomorrow?" She called after the retreating figure. "Well, crap. That went great." Lilliana sighed and sat back down in a chair, rubbing her eyes with her hand. She looked up as she heard footsteps approaching.

Her little brother walked in, with a slightly quizzical expression on his face. "What happened?" Quatre asked.

Lilliana shrugged. "He kept on insisting that he had hurt himself, and when I tried to explain that you had told me otherwise, he stormed out. Very temperamental, isn't he..."

Quatre snorted at her half-question. "Very." He started to walk out the door.

"By the way," Lilliana added, "You never told me he was gay."

Quatre just shrugged and walked out of the door.

"I should have known. It's always the cute ones. Damn." With that, she turned to her vast collection of books to try and find some answers.

* * * * * 

Quatre walked out of his sister's study and went down the hall and into the main library. Once there, he pulled a random book off the shelf and threw himself down into a chair. He carelessly flipped the book open to a random page and sat there, staring at the words, but not actually reading. He had been frozen like that, his brain working like mad, for about twenty minutes, when his relative peace was interrupted by the sound of another chair being drawn towards him. He opened his eyes to find yet another sister looking at him. This one was slightly tall for her age with pure white skin and bobbed black hair. She was one of his oldest older sisters and had gotten a doctorate in medicine two years ago.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing, Llesil..." Quatre lied.

"You're lying to me."

Silence. "How did you know?"

She grinned, "You were glaring at the page with a sort of far-off look, and you had been looking at the same spot on the same page of the same book for over ten minutes. That implies that something's wrong in my book."

Quatre sighed. "It's just... My friend, you know the one I brought here last night, is suffering, but he won't let anyone help him or anything. He won't even talk about it." 

Llesil grimaced. "Yuck, that's an awful situation to be in."

Quatre groaned. "You're telling me..."

"Is there anything I can do?" 

"I don't know... Lilliana already tried to talk to him, but he ran off after a few questions."

"Frustrating, isn't it?" 

"You have no idea."

"Well... I can do a physical if you'd like?"

Quatre sighed. "I don't know how much he'd take to having a physical... He won't even talk about what happened, much less... I don't know..."

Llesil was silent for a moment. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but he seems to be the sort that likes to get back into the 'groove' of things, if you understand my meaning. Maybe if I took that standpoint..."

Quatre looked up. "That's it! Here, I've got a plan..."

* * * * * 

Llesil knocked on the doorframe of one of the many guest bedrooms. Receiving no answer, she timidly walked in. 

Heero sat with his back to her, half staring out the window, half lost in thoughts. He turned as he heard footsteps behind him. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Hi! I'm Llesil." She stuck out her hand, then withdrew it after about ten seconds, in which the silent youth glared at her. "Uh, I got a message from some doctor, and he asked me to tell you that you should get a physical before coming back to pilot? Does that sound right?"

Heero nodded.

"Well, I'm a doctor, so if you'd like, I can give you a physical right now, I mean, I have no patients or anything now..." Llesil became very nervous as the young man glared at her.

"Who sent you here?" 

Llesil quickly lied. "I told you, that doctor."

"Was he serious?"

"Quite serious, he said I wasn't even allowed to let you leave the mansion before you got a physical. He seemed a bit worried, like something was wrong..." Llesil had an inside party as Heero reacted to the final piece of incentive she gave him.

The young man stood up and walked towards the door. "How long does it take you to do a physical?"

"An hour, two at tops."

Heero nodded and held the door for Llesil.

"Right this way, please."

* * * * * 

"Llesil? This is Liliana. How bad was it? Uh huh... Okay, send me over a set of hydensythine, please. Yeah, I'm sure. It's the only way. Uh huh... Thanks!" Liliana hung up the phone just as someone knocked on her door. "Come in!" 

Quatre walked in, looking rather desolate. 

"Hey, Llesil just finished the physical, she's gonna send over some stats in a while." Liliana shuffled through some papers. "Uhm, this is a very delicate case, you realize that?"

Quatre sighed and nodded.

"And you know that I'm going to do my best to help your friend, right?"

Again, he nodded.

"Then I'm going to need complete cooperation from you. And, most importantly, don't ask questions, just do what I say."

"But..."

"But nothing. I'm sorry, but this is a very very delicate case. Anything could set your friend off..."

"Wait, "anything could set my friend off", what do you mean by that?"

Liliana looked down at her hands. "In most cases of abuse we find that the abused feel the need to funnel the anger and guilt and fear and pain they feel into another person by hurting them. It's a sort of vicious cycle, I'm afraid."

"So, what are you saying, that he's going to try and hurt me?"

Liliana nodded.

"That's ridiculous! I mean, he would never do something like that!"

"I'm sure that's exactly what your friend told himself when his 'friend' started to abuse him."

Quatre bowed his head. "Okay. What do you need me to do?"

"Nothing for right now, but just I need to know that you trust me to do what's best for your friend, and to do the most I can to help him."

He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Okay..."

"Llesil should also be sending over something that I think might help to, uh, help elucidate the problem."

Immediately suspicious, he looked up into her eyes. "Like what?"

"Uh..." Lilliana searched for an explanation, then decided to tell the truth. "Like hydensythine."

"What is that?"

"It's a very quick working, very potent drug, only to be administered by and under the care of a trained health professional, and used only as a last resort."

"What does it do?"

"It impairs, for a while, its user's ability to withhold information, and lowers their inhibitions..."

"Like hell you'll use that!" He interrupted.

"Just listen to me. It's our only way of helping him before he hurts someone else... Or himself." Lilliana persuaded.

Quatre sulked for a moment, then looked back up. "How long does it last?"

"Usually around three to four hours, up to ten, in a couple reported cases."

"Any long lasting effects?"

"None whatsoever. The next morning he isn't likely to remember anything about the night before."

Quatre sighed and shook his head. "I don't know... This seems unfair... Sneaky too."

Lilliana sighed and rubbed her eyes. "I know. I understand completely. But you must know that this is the only way we can help him. If there were any other way..."

Quatre nodded. "I know, you'd tell me. It still seems, well, wrong."

"Hmm. Well, it's your decision." Lilliana looked up as a knock came from the door. "The stuff's here." She walked over to and opened the door, taking from the maid a manila envelope. Thanking the maid, she shut the door and went back to her seat. "Here," She opened the envelope and tossed the cartridge inside to her younger brother. She then took out a stack of papers and went through them carefully. 

Quatre looked up. "How bad is it?"

"Pretty bad... He's beat up and run down. His body is rejecting the harsh treatments, which is very usual, it has been receiving. He's starting to get some sort of sickness from fatigue and stress, both emotional and physical." Lilliana looked up. "When he's under, Llesil can do a more thorough examination." 

He sighed and tossed the cartridge back to her. "Okay. Fine, use your potion."

"One more thing. When he's under, you have the option of using a PERK unit."

"What's that?"

"When he's under examination, we collect evidence of the identity of the perpetrator. This can be used to prosecute him, but using it does not mean that you have to prosecute. I'm assuming you know who did this?"

He nodded.

"Then the only reason to use a PERK unit would to be to gather evidence."

"No, don't use it. We'll deal with this personally."

"Uh, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that last remark. You need to be careful what you say around whom. You start talking like that, and if you do anything to him, even so much as look at him cross-eyed, it's more likely they'll charge it as premeditated."

"Whatever. Look, I'm tired and I'm hungry. When do you want to use that stuff?"

"The sooner the better."

"So, how do you get it into the person?"

"Drinking it works, so if you can get it into his water or something, that would be great. I have a feeling he's going to trust a drink that you prepared more than one I prepared..."

"Hnn." Quatre grabbed the cylinder and left the room.

Lilliana sighed and picked up the phone, pressing in a code. "Hey, Llesil? Yeah, it's me. I just finished talking with him and he's going to use the stuff tonight, is that okay? 'Kay, just wanted to make sure. Be there in a minute." Lilliana put the phone back down in its cradle and left the room.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Author's Note: Rape and abuse are serious problems in today's society. Victims may not be easy to recognize as they fear the reaction of their abuser if they find out, but please, if you sense that someone you know and/or care about is being abused, contact someone, anyone. Their parents, your school counselor, the local S.A.R.A. chapter, anyone. Just don't ignore the problem. Victims are scared, depressed, and very vulnerable. Sometimes the "tough-guy" act is really a cry of pain for help. 


End file.
